It's an algorithmic world these days-the only calculations that matter are how much a seat can be sold for (especially since there is a little real competition and the airlines are colluding on "seat discipline" i.e. reducing capacity and driving fares sky high.) Short term earnings are everything, and ancient notions of service, loyalty and fair dealings are quaint indeed. NY Chicago on a Thursday night could probably attract thousands of flyers at reasonable fares, but the airlines collude to restrict available seats: the result? The aircartels can practically assault their passengers and the seats will still be full. I have ended every relationship with the algomonsters and after l million great miles with Continental, I will not spend a single penny on United Airlines and its gansta management.

I used to be a loyal Continental flyer. Then Jeff Smisek, a lawyer, was appointed to be their CEO and customer service went straight down the toilet. Smisek also pushed the disastorous Continental/United merger which has made their customer service, mileage program, and website even worse.

Companies, do us a favor: never appoint a lawyer to the CEO role. They don't give a damn about customers and are terrible managers.

It would not surprise me at all if United did not treat its frequent flyers fairly. Lots of businesses - probably most - treat their loyal customers worse than others. New cable subscribers get better deals than long-term subscribers, for example. One has to threaten to switch providers to get a similar deal.

Loyal customers are less likely to shop around, are less price senstive, and put a higher value on switching costs. Therefore, the thinking goes, they can be charged a higher price with relative impunity. Customers are wise to adopt a "trust, but verify" approach.

I lived in Colorado for eight years, with Denver being a hub for United I had to use the airline quite often. They are extremely abusive to their customers. Their employees are socially abrasive at best. If you must, pay extra for other airlines if you don’t want to feel like a prisoner on your trip. Their customer service department simply adds insult to injury. I’ve flown to conflict zones that have better airlines.

I was a loyal customer and was even a 1k or Premier member for at least a decade. I finally gave up on their "loyalty" program when they made me buy more expensive tickets just for a chance to use my upgrades. When my twins were born, I stopped traveling for nine months and they decided to take my 180,000 miles I still had away, quite surreptitiously. Now that I am free of their "loyalty" program, I resolutely avoid them at all cost. Why? Because they are a lousy airline anyway. I fly Virgin America/Atlantic, Cathay Pacific, and Singapore Airlines, sometimes even American Airlines but not United, not even if they are cheaper. An intended result of their loyalty program, you think?

I was a loyal customer of United since the 1970's but gave up on them a few years ago in utter disgust at their miserable treatment of their customers, and staff. Their website is totally useless. How can they stay in business?

This reminds me of the time I had a colleague at work who had an American Airlines Visa card, because purchases were rewarded with miles. It was interesting to watch him going out of his way to purchase things he didn't need "just to get the miles." Months later, when he tried to redeem them, the only way he could do it was by circuitous routes taking around twice as long as the only direct flight for his preferred date, which was "fully-booked."

I've long suspected these programs were scams. But even without that, I prefer to keep all my options open. I don't want to be locked into one airline, even if that means paying more. Over the long run, I think it's worth it, in terms of value if not pure cost.

Most frequent fliers are effectively captives of a single airline. If you fly out of San Francisco or Chicago, for example, then UAL is your main option. Likewise there are "Delta Captives" - poor devils. The situation is worse for people who must cross oceans. Quantas has a lock on Australian fliers, for example. Therefore airlines don't have to care about customer opinions. Most of us accept our fate with whatever stoicism we can muster, all the while dreaming of a future in which we can skip the whole charade and use private aviation instead...

Recently, I was amused to see that Gold status UAL passengers are in the same boarding category as holders of their Explorer Visa card. While I'm sure the management team has carefully analyzed the impact on the overall bottom line of the airline, this decision smudges the "elite" status of Silver and Gold level members. I hope the short term flow of credit card and annual fees offsets the longer-term slight to travelers flying 50,000 to 100,000 miles per year with UAL - who may even pay a premium to fly with their competitors.

It has been obvious for a long time that United doesn't treat passengers very well. Unfortunately, neither do any of the other major airlines in America. Jetblue and Virgin provide much better service, but they don't offer as many routes.

First to board: special needs (wheelchairs, canes, etc) and those travelling with them. No problem. This was about a dozen people.

Then: families and others flying with children. Probably because it was near the holiday season, this was about 35 people.

Then: to my surprise, anyone 60 years of age or older, along with anyone travelling with them. This tipped the scales and involved about 75 more people...it seemed as though nearly the entire plane had boarded at this point and it was a bit of a scrum.

THEN: Global First was finally allowed to board. We got to join the end of a seemingly endless queue on the passage to the jetway. The plane was nearly full as near as I could tell. It took a very long time.

The point I wish to make is that the vast majority of people in line ahead of us were young and able-bodied. They simply happened to be travelling with someone young or old, as near as I could tell.

Of course, it didn't help that we'd been on the aircraft 90 minutes beforehand. They made all of us coming from Rio deplane in order to experience the fun getting back on board.

The flight wasn't bad. But the on-ground experience certainly demonstrated clearly what's being said in this article and comments--United does not value its highest-paying customers.